LATE NEWS-September/October 2008

November 28, 2008

NEW STAFF

INDIGO THREADS began the 2008-2009 school year with a new staff with new talents for the new year.  By early September we had recruited 3 qualified Laotian people to prepare and cook our expanded School Lunch Program.  The jobs were first opened to village women in our new office location.  The School Lunch Program staff includes one young man, Mr. Laa, Ms. Khompong, an older woman from the village and Ms. Nit whose husband transported my family when they visited earlier in the year.   Although the new staff had little experience cooking very large quantities of soup with nutrition concerns and high standards of sanitation, the hungry students received their first school lunch on September 18.  This was an anxious time as 3 of the 4 participating school had not been part of the Program, the number of students were double from previous years and we were traveling twice the distance.  Lanna, who was intended to train as Assistant to the Director and INDIGO THREADS In-Country Coordinator, is now supervising the School Lunch Program when needed.  Our important 4-day Lunch Program is serving 1,750 students and teachers per week, traveling 72 kilometers per day and providing lunch at 4 primary schools and l poor village daily. Other positions remain open until qualified Lao Nationals can be found to fill these positions.  Unfortunately, some Education Programs have been temporarily postponed until qualified candidates are recruited.  English is a requirement for the remaining available positions. 
See Blog:  POSITIONS AVAILABLE FOR LAO NATIONALS, November 5, 2008.

 

TOO MUCH MONSOON RAIN

The monsoon rains started early in Southern Laos and lasted until mid November, much longer than usual.  The important rains are essential for the May/June rice-planting season.  Many farmers did not get their rice planted before the rains came.   Most rural villagers have some area to plant rice as this is the main source of their food supply. Tradition water buffalo continue to be used to plow the fields.  In very recent years, one or two people within a village may have more modern machinery to plow the fields.  Those with the plows will often help the other villagers but there is still much more back breaking work to do.   Due to so much rain, there were valid concerns the rice would rot.  It is too early to determine the success of this year’s crops as the rice harvest is from late October into December.   In order for me to capture the photo of these beautiful rice fields, many people worked extremely hard cultivating these fields to provide food for their family.  And they do this year after year.

 

LAO NATIONAL GAMES

Champasak Province, Pakse, Laos will be hosting the 2008 Lao National Games from December 13 to December 22, 2008.  Seventeen Provinces will be participating in various competitions.  In preparation for the games, the City has taken on a new landscape with the construction of large upscale hotels, the old rundown stadium has been beautifully renovated, a state of the art tennis facility has been completed and fresh white paint covers all surfaces.  The few traffic lights are now operating and there will be no school in the City due to the anticipated traffic gridlock, both vehicles and visitors.   New police recruits have been in training for crowd control.  Travel Agents have trained an abundance of certified tour guides to help guests explore the many sight in Southern Laos.  Trash containers have been placed through out the City. Seven hundred students from the Pakse Teacher’s Training College will be presenting a spectacular opening ceremony show.  The City is buzzing with excitement.  In late 2009, Laos will be hosting for the first time the Southeast Asian Games-SEA Games.

Mary D. Meyer
Indigo Threads/President-Executive Director
Laos Education Support and Village Development
A Non-Profit (501-3-C) Humanitarian Organization
www.indigothreads.org
mdmeyer@indigothreads.org

  

 

 

 

- 30 -